Dr. Helen

Commentary on popular culture and society, from a (mostly) psychological perspective

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Is Obama the new FDR?

I sure hope not after reading a new book that just came out this week entitled The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal. The author, economist Robert Murphy, notes that government intervention prolonged the Depression and explains through the use of historical facts and information why this is so. Adding to this, he states that much what is written in textbooks on the Depression is false (no surprise there) and politically correct, making it seem like government saved the day. With Obama trumpeting himself as the new FDR heading a government "lending a helping hand," Murphy says this is no cause for celebration. Instead, we might have similar problems (or even worse) then we did in the Depression: double digit unemployment, arbitrary policies toward businessmen resulting in net investment of less than zero, and big government policies that stifle liberty.

Anyway, if you are interested in the topic, read the book, it's easy to get through and digest, even for those who are laymen in economics.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

"Going Galt" continues...

But then in mid to late June, along came the POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) economy. The Democratic triumvirate’s intent to starve the nation of energy, regardless of the consequences, and newly minted presidential nominee Barack Obama’s designs on punitively taxing 5% of the nation’s most productive in the name of redistributing money to everyone else, both became crystal clear. As a result, paraphrasing what I wrote at the time, businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs responded to the trio’s total lack of seriousness by battening down the hatches and preparing for the worst.

Yes, lower tax receipts might be a result of the economy but they are just as much psychological. No one knows what to expect from this administration. Why invest and risk growing a buisiness if much of it might be taxed or regulated away?

Tea Party coverage

Update: Just got back from the Tea Party--it was amazing with what looked like 2000-2500 people in the World's Fair Amphitheater. People were calm, having fun and dressed in all types of costumes. Many mothers were there pushing their children in strollers to listen to the speeches and stopping to talk with us about why personal responsibility is important, the Fair Tax, homeschooling and much more.

Tea parties, "going Galt" and Atlas Shrugged

“Tea parties.” “Going Galt.” You’ve probably seen a growing number of references to these in the media, online, and on signs at rallies reacting to new government spending and controls.

The Boston Tea Party was a rebellion against excessive government. Today’s “tea parties” say “no” to spending without limit and the government takeover of our lives.

“Going Galt!” If you’ve read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged,you appreciate the parallels between today’s disintegrating world and the events depicted in that prophetic novel. Atlas Shrugged is the story ofhow productive people went on strike, withdrawing their services in protest against a society that damned them for being productive and expropriated the fruits of their labor.

The ideas in Atlas Shrugged can be powerful moral weapons to roll back the forces of repression and irrationality. The Atlas Society is your premier source for information on those ideas. We’ve compiled this page to help you understand the whole “Going Galt” phenomenon.

What is “Going Galt?”

* “Going Galt” doesn’t simply mean getting angry. That would be “Going Postal.” It means having righteous indignation at the injustice of a political system that bails out individuals and institutions for irresponsible behavior and at the expense of those like you who prosper through hard work and personal responsibly.

* “Going Galt” means asking in the face of new taxes and government controls, “Why work at all?” “For whom am I working?” “Am I a slave?”

Monday, April 13, 2009

Men dropping out of the workforce at greater rates

Men are not merely becoming unemployed in greater numbers than ever before. They are actually dropping out of the labor force at greater rates than before, which is different....

In March 2009, the BLS reported that 1,162,000 women and 1,238,000 men had shifted from "looking" to "stopped looking" in the preceding month. So not only are men and women now exiting the labor force at roughly equal rates, but if current trends continue, men will start doing so even more. The increase in the number of women dropping out from December 2007 to March 2009 was 38%. The increase in the number of men dropping out was 90%.

Comments worth reading

Gadgets that work

I was home alone last Friday afternoon when I heard a loud man's voice blaring away over and over. At first, I thought someone had broken in the house but the voice sounded so authoritative, I figured it had to be something else. It was this device--the MIDLAND WR300 Weather Radio-- that Glenn had purchased a while back letting me know about a tornado warning. I kind of laughed about the device when he bought it but I must say, it came in handy. It gave the exact time the tornado might hit and what towns it might come through. I was able to get on the phone and warn a friend coming into town to watch the weather and pull into a shelter or safer area than the car, if it got too bad. After seeing in the news that two people--one an infant-- had died during this tornado, I wished that they had been using this device. It might have saved their lives--although the news story said they were in the hallway, perhaps the best place they could find.